Nevada County’s Congressman says it will prevent wildfires, while some environmental groups say it will just rubber stamp huge logging projects. The House of Representatives passed what’s called the Resilient Federal Forests Act. Republican Doug LaMalfa spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor…

The bill is sponsored by Representative Bruce Westerman of Arkansas. LaMalfa only got a minute to speak in front of the House, but spoke again in a news conference afterwards, demonstrating with a jar of ash…

LaMalfa says the bill will provide expedited environmental reviews, and that federal lands are “in desperate need to be managed.” In a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, they claim endangered species protections will be gutted. The bill passed along a party line vote of 232 to 188.